After seven years at sea, the Crafton Five are coming ashore, but slowly. They are in no hurry to shed the awe they feel about what they have accomplished: an 83-month, 30,000-mile circumnavigation of both the globe and the roughest years of their kids’ childhoods.

“We just seemed to get along better the longer we were out there,” marvels Tom, who turned 50 in May as they crept through the doldrums of the equatorial Atlantic. “The day we moved onto the boat, the sibling rivalry stopped. I don’t think they ever complained, not once.”

It took everything the Craftons had to keep afloat for most of the trip, but that was largely the point. After achieving two-career success… the couple found that big-house status and plenty of everything left them feeling not much of anything, save frustration and want. “We looked at each other and said, ‘What the hell are we doing?’ ” Tom says. It took six months to liquidate everything.

Continue reading about the Crafton family and view a timeline, slideshow and flipbook of their adventures at sea at the link above.